The Guardian (14 page)

Cole was not about to allow Blair to dismiss him. “I
tell you what. I will talk to Michael and we will try to arrange a way for her
family to come.”

Blair gave Cole a curt nod. “You do that.”

Cassie shook her head. She had been distracted by her
own troubling thoughts, but she still heard Cole’s rumbling voice. “No, they
can’t come here,” said Cassie.

Both Blair and Cole looked at her questioningly.
“Why not?”
Cole asked.

“Neither of them is in great health, and my
grandfather has emphysema. The thin air up here would not be good for him.”

Cole thought a moment.
“How about a
phone call then?
Blair is right about the fact that you need to contact
your family and assure them you are fine.”

  
“Okay.”
Cassie gave Cole her grandparents’ phone number.

****

Lucas watched as Michael dealt with the shifters that
had dared to try to intimidate Will. That should have been his job. He and Will
had been good friends at one time, before she ruined their lives. Now
Will
would probably kill him on sight. Allie was dead, and Lucas
was to blame. He longed to be able to walk over and help his friend. He would
never look at Will and see a weak victim. Will
had
survived, where many others had not, including Allie. Regret burned in his
chest more than his banishment. He had come so close to the perfect life. He
was mated, had close friends, and a child on the way. Then that bitch had come along
and destroyed everything. When he had tried to save what was left of his
territory, Michael had punished him for protecting what was left of his
territory. Perhaps Michael needed to see what it was like to lose everything. Lucas
smiled a cold, calculating smile. Yes, he would show Michael what it was like
to lose everything he loved most.

Chapter
Thirteen

Cassie felt content and truly happy. Her grandparents
had taken the news well that she was staying. They didn’t seem concerned that
the town was not on any map or GPS, or that she had suddenly out of the blue
decided to not come home. They were going to arrange for her stuff to be stored
until she could come home and go through it, and make sure her mail was
forwarded. It was too easy, but she would worry about how odd that was later.
She sat down on a park bench and pulled out her cell phone. Now she had to face
her boss. She knew he would be angry for not calling since her message. She
dialed the number from memory and waited. Part of her hoped it went to voice
mail, but he picked up on the second ring.

“This is Kyle.”

Cassie drew a breath.
“Kyle, this
Cassie.”

“Cassie, where the hell have you been? You leave a
cryptic message for me about an accident,
then
never
answer your damn phone. I should fire you!”

Cassie closed her eyes. “I am sorry, my phone was
destroyed. I got a new one, but I was a bit overwhelmed.”

“Whatever,” Kyle snapped. “When are you coming back?”

“I’m not. I am not coming back at all.” Cassie cringed
knowing he was about to yell.

“What? How can you just leave like this?” Kyle
demanded.

“I can’t explain, Kyle. It’s personal. I am sorry for
the imposition.”

Kyle interrupted her. “I hope the new job pays more,”

Cassie sighed. “Bye, Kyle.” She hung up the phone, and
shoved it in her pocket. She had hoped it would go better, but Kyle had always
had a short temper. He was justified this time, however.
 
Cassie wished she could explain to him, but
telling him she now turned into a wolf and was mated to a man who turned into a
cougar was not something she could do. Well, she
could
, but then she would be in a lot of trouble with Michael, and
not the fun kind. She did feel relieved that she had gotten that bit taken care
of, finally. Feeling like she’d shut the door on her old life she stood up and
walked towards the business district of town.

Cassie walked into the small store that was the town’s
grocery store. She was a good cook, and she was starting to miss it. She
wandered down the aisles while she planned what to cook for tonight’s meal.

“Cassie.” She turned her head at hearing her name. Her
face brightened to see Myra was walking towards her with a smile on her face.

“Goddess, look at you!” she exclaimed happily. “You
look radiant.”

Cassie smiled back at her. “Thank you. I feel it,
too.” She meant it. She felt like she had been infused with a shot of energy
and vitamins since her change. It was a bit rough at first. Now that Michael
had kept her very well fed, and lay down with her several times a day to wear
her out properly before taking a nap with her, she felt like a new woman.

“I am meeting up with several of the ladies around
town for lunch. Why don’t you join us?”

Cassie smiled. A lunch out with her new friends
sounded wonderful. The heartache over losing Marcy was still raw, so it would
feel good to get around some friends. “I would love to.”

“Good. Come on over to the diner. There are some
ladies there that you haven’t met yet that I know you will like.”

“I would like that, Myra.” Cassie changed her plans
and decided to hold off on grocery shopping until later.

Cassie was not sure what to expect when she walked
into the restaurant.
 
She was glad she
had taken Myra up on her offer though. She met Myra’s two sons and several new
friends. Julie, a mountain lion shifter, had been welcoming, and offered to
help her any way she could. Beth, a wolf shifter, had also been nice. Cassie
was feeling less like a stranger here, and happy.

Cassie walked out to see Michael waiting for her. He
was standing next to his car, in blue jeans, a black T-shirt, and sunglasses.
She stared for a moment as her body heated.

“Hey, did you have fun?” he asked with a lazy smile on
his face.

“Yes,” she said as he pushed off of his car and
approached her. He took her in his arms and leaned down for a kiss. She
expected a sweet, nice to see you kind of kiss. Instead she got him claiming
her mouth with his own. His tongue demanded entrance, and she gave it to him.
His arms wrapped around her, and one hand threaded through her hair. He gripped
it and held her still.

Cassie wrapped her arms around him and pulled his
shirt loose. Her hands went up the smooth and soft skin of his back. She could
spend hours just running her hands over his skin, it felt that wonderful. All
too soon though, Michael was pulling away, with a sigh of regret. “I could kiss
you all day.”

“I could, too, as well as other things.” Cassie gave
him a heated smile to make her meaning clear.

Michael looked down at her with hunger in his eyes.
“We may not make it home before I have my way with you.”

Cassie ran her hands up his chest. If he was talking
about finding a back road on their way home, then she was all for it. Movement
caught her eye, and she glanced over his shoulder. She saw a woman watching
them. She looked almost like Marcy. Cassie stood there staring at her.

Michael pulled away when he felt her stiffen. “What?”

“She looks almost exactly like Marcy.”

Michael turned to look, but the woman chose that
moment to turn around and walk away. Cassie could see her hair was shorter, and
she was a bit heavier than Marcy, but other than that, she was identical.

“Maybe it is just a coincidence,” said Michael.

Cassie shook her head in confusion.
“Maybe.”
She let out a shaky breath. “She was staring at me, and it wasn’t friendly.
Maybe it was Marcy’s ghost, and she is here to punish me.”

Michael kissed the tip of her nose. “No such thing.”

“You’re right,” Cassie agreed. She was still troubled
by that woman. Not only did she look a lot like Marcy, but she could see the
hate filled stare from here. There was nothing friendly emanating from that
woman. Whoever she was, she hated Cassie for some reason.

Chapter
Fourteen

Cassie barely got the front door shut before Michael
was pulling her shirt up over her head. His eyes were full of heat as he looked
at her.

“Aren’t there children around here?” Cassie asked
laughing.

Michael smiled as he stripped off his shirt and
unfastened his jeans. “I told you, she was only over here helping me with you.
She has her own part of the house. She stays there, and it is quite soundproof.
I know, otherwise I would hear the children fighting all the time. They play
fight pretty loud.”

She watched him toe off his shoes then kick his jeans
off. She would have compared him with someone desperate, but she wanted to play
with him, not insult him. “You never go over there and play with them?” Cassie
asked while dodging his groping hands.

“Of course I do. It is my duty as their uncle.”
 
His eyes were shining with sincerity. She
could tell he meant it. Cassie’s heart melted at that moment. She imagined him
with his own children, playing on the floor with them. It wouldn’t matter if he
had a son, and was able to play with trucks, or a girl and he built her doll
houses. He would be on the floor playing with them.

“I can tell you take your duty seriously.” She ran her
hands over his chest. The bulging muscles of his pectorals rippled as her hands
moved.

“Of course.
I am the man they
look up to for guidance. The best way to teach a child is to play.” He looked
down at her,
then
gasped when she lightly circled the
areola of his nipple.

Cassie loved how his nipples were so sensitive. “I
knew my heart chose well,” she said, knowing her eyes were shining with tears.
She had never loved someone so much before, and the better she knew him, the
more she loved him.

Michael raised his hand and ran his finger lightly over
her cheek. “I never thought I would find someone like you to love. Never doubt
that I love you. I loved you from the moment I saw you. It is more than our
soul bond, or that you needed me.”

Cassie nodded. “I know what you mean. I thought it
must have been how scared I was, since it didn’t make sense to love you so
much.”

“Marry me,” Michael said in a tone that meant he would
not take no for an answer. “I want you to carry my name as well as my
children.” He nibbled on her lip.

Cassie’s heart filled with joy. How wonderful it would
be to call her grandparents and tell them she was getting married. Still she
wondered what the difference was. “I thought being mated was the same as
married.”

“Being mated is a much deeper commitment than human
marriage, but human marriage is still binding. I want you bound to me in every
way.”

She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. He
leaned down, and she kissed him. His lips were soft as she caressed them with
her own. She told him her answer with the love she poured into the kiss. “Yes,
of course I will marry you. I love you so very much.”

Michael broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to
hers. “You make me happy. I am glad you obeyed me, and I didn’t have to punish
you until you agreed.”

Cassie almost snorted her amusement. “What if I had
plans of marrying someone else?” she asked with a serious expression.

Michael stiffened and started to growl. “I can see how
this is going to go. You are going to misbehave so you can get a punishment.”

“Who says I am misbehaving? There was this young man
at the next table. He looked cute. I bet I could have married him.” Cassie
batted her eyelashes at Michael playfully.

“Aiden?”
Michael asked in
mock outrage. “He is a fucking pup.”

Cassie let out a delighted laugh,
then
squeaked as Michael picked her up and put her over his shoulder. “That’s it.”
His hand came down hard on her ass, making her shriek. “Naughty girl wants a
spanking I see.”

“I never said I would marry you.” She gave him a fake
glare,
then
let out another squeal when he spanked her
several more times.

“Your ass is going to be so pretty before I get a
chance to start your punishment. You did agree.”

Cassie enjoyed the sight of his bare ass while he
walked up the stairs. “So are you saying you will not take no for an answer?”

He spanked her several more times, eliciting a
shrieking laugh from her. He walked into a room that looked like a torture
chamber. There were chains with manacles hanging from beams on the ceiling. She
stared at a wooden structure that made an X. “That is a Saint Andrew’s cross,” Michael
explained.

 
“What is it?” she
asked feeling a bit nervous. It looked like a frame for a swing, but with
leather cuffs, and straps.

“This is a little dungeon I have put together. That
over there,” he said pointing at the swing she looked at, “is a sex swing. We
can play with that a bit later, if you like.” He set her down by a wooden chair
and let her have a look around.

She bit her lower lip as she looked at the leather
whips, floggers, and paddles. She glanced over at the exit nervously. “Those
things look rather painful.”

“They can be painful, but I prefer sensual. I would
never harm you, push you maybe, but never harm.”

Cassie relaxed. She knew that. “Yes, I know.”

“If you need to stop for any reason, you say red.” He
cupped her chin gently. “You say red, and we stop. If you want to continue then
we will.”

Cassie felt a little anxious, but she wasn’t afraid of
Michael.

He sat down in the chair and pulled her over his lap.
She grabbed onto his ankles to keep her balance. “I want you to keep a hold of
me there. Do not move.”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly. She felt him running his
hands over her buttocks. She sighed in contentment at the feeling. The first
stinging slap hit, making her flinch. He rubbed where he had slapped her,
soothing the sting away. It had not hurt at all like she thought, and she
relaxed a bit more. He slapped her hard again, but the stinging heat was not as
painful as she expected.

He stopped for a moment and was rummaging in a basket
on the side table. He pulled out a little stainless steel teardrop shaped thing
with a jewel on the end. “I think your backside would look pretty with some
jewelry.”

She remembered her last time he’d shoved a plug in her
and felt her channel clench. “Yes, I think it would.”

He grabbed some lube and spread it on the jeweled
plug. He applied some more lube on his finger, and worked it into her backside.
Nerves fired at the sensation, and she moaned.

“Good girl, relax while I prepare you.”

Cassie closed her eyes as the molten heat moved
through her body. She felt his fingers sliding in and out of her, opening and
stretching her.

“I am going to put the plug in now, love.” Michael’s
voice drifted over her like velvet.

Cassie moaned as it entered her. It burned as it
stretched her sensitive tissues.
“Oh Michael.”

He was stroking her clit as he slowly pushed in the
plug. She was so close to coming, and the pressure in her anus was making it
feel all the more intense. “Michael. Oh, I am going to come,” she cried out.

“I want you to. I want you to drench my fingers in
your sweet cream. Come for me, beautiful girl.”

Cassie obeyed him and came screaming over his fingers.
She screamed his name while the plug completely worked its way in and his
fingers moved.

She felt his hand slap her ass, and it moved the plug
inside her. She lifted her head and cried out. She felt waves crash over her
again. She was coming again and again with every strike of his hand. She felt
his fingers moving over her clit as he spanked her.

“Michael,” she cried. “Please, I need you inside of
me.”

He picked her up and laid her back on a sawhorse
looking bench. He lifted her knees and helped her to wrap her legs around him.
“Hold on, baby, I am going to go fast.” He impaled her in one hard thrust.

Cassie arched her back and bit her lower lip. She was
so close to coming again. She felt the bliss right there on the edge.
 
Michael pulled out and thrust in again, and
she went off. Michael leaned over to kiss her while her pussy contracted around
his long, thick shaft. His kiss was as demanding as his forced orgasm. He was
thrusting hard and fast while he dominated her mouth. She felt another orgasm
growing, and let out a breathless cry. “I can’t.”

“You can, and you will. Come for me, Cassie.”

Her body convulsed as she came, and this time she felt
his cock swell as his hot seed filled her. His back stiffened, and he raised
his head. “Mine,” he said with a snarl as his climax overtook him.

“Yours!”
Cassie said, nodding
her head in agreement

****

Cassie stood in the clearing with several other
shifters. Some she knew, like Julie, Myra, and Blair, but even more she had
never met. She had friends here, and was beginning to feel like this was home.
Ever since Cassie’s new friends had talked with Amber, everything had changed
for the better. She had seen Kathy there, but had made a point to ignore her.
She was one woman who couldn’t get over the fact that someone didn’t want her.
Cassie was no longer concerned about
Kathy,
she had
more pressing anxieties to worry about. Soon she would remove her clothes and
shift into her wolf form.
It is normal to
be naked among shifters. It is normal to be naked in front of shifters.
She
repeated the mantra in her head as she thought about how she would strip and
shift in front of all these people, or rather shifters.
 
She wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans
again.

“All right, listen up,” Warren called out to silence
the conversation. “I am going to tell Paisley to run her little heart out. Her
mamma will kill us all if we lose her. So don’t let the little scamp get away.”

Most shifters laughed, but Cassie was nervous. They
were going to release a kid out in the wilderness?

“Yeah, I tell you what. I will give her free burgers
and pizza for a month if she can keep us looking for at least three hours.
 
I really need to work on my tracking skills,”
an older man yelled out.

Blair leaned over. “That is Mitch. He owns the
restaurant in town, and is a
cholan
.”

“What is a
cholan
?” Cassie
asked eyeing the muscular man as he continued to joke around.

“
Cholan
are clan
protectors.” Blair watched Cole closely as he added his own incentives to
extend the game.

Cassie tried to hide her smile as she watched Blair
watching Cole out of the corner of her eye. Anytime he turned towards her she
would move quickly to look like she had no interest in him.
 

“Clan protectors?”
 
Cassie asked
,
only
to have Blair ignore her. She tapped her foot against Blair’s.

Blair looked at her. “What?”

Cassie laughed out loud that time, “Are you a little
distracted?”

“Not at all.”
Blair turned
her back to Cole and kept her attention on Cassie.

“What are clan protectors for?”

Blair’s eyes moved towards Cole and Mitch again for
just a moment. “Shifters have enemies. Some shifters are not right, much like
human criminals. We shifters have our own laws that are nothing like human.
When a shifter commits a crime he is hunted down by
cholan
to face shifter justice.”

“So you have courts?” Cassie had wondered how they
dealt with crime.

“No, we have guardians. If a shifter commits a crime
here, the
cholan
would bring him to Michael for
judgment.”

Cassie’s next question was cut off when a girl came
into the clearing. She was not nearly as young as Cassie had feared. She looked
to be around fifteen, and had beautiful red hair.
 

“I will take that bet, Mitch. I bet you I can hide for
at least four hours.”

“You’re on!” Both Cole and Mitch called out, accepting
her challenge.

Cassie watched her strip off her clothing and
roll
them into a ball. She stuffed the clothes into a tree
and shifted. She blurred like the others until her animal form stood there. She
was a beautiful red fox. Her deep red fur looked soft and silky.

“Paisley, run.
You will have
twenty minutes to get a
headstart
before we release
the others, so make sure you hide your trail a bit.”

“Takes all the fun out of it,” a young sheriff’s
deputy muttered.

“No, it makes it more fun. If we just let Paisley
loose without any sort of distraction, then we would find her within an hour,
without getting any real challenge,” Cole replied.

Cassie noticed everyone else starting to remove their
clothing, so she followed suit. Her hands trembled as she fumbled with the
buttons. She feared someone would turn and point out that she was standing
naked, but no one gave her a second glance.

She stuffed her clothes in one of the trees and closed
her eyes. She saw her wolf waiting for her. She embraced her and felt herself
falling. It was such a wonderful feeling now. The world steadied, and she stood
looked down to see her paws.

She glanced over to see Blair in her fox form. Unlike
Paisley, she was more of a brownish color.

“And go,” Warren yelled.

Cassie wasted no time running into the mountain’s
evergreens. She knew her job was to be as much of a distraction as possible.
This was supposed to be an exercise to sharpen the
cholan’s
tracking skills, but they all made it a fun game as well.

She made a point to destroy any trace of Paisley’s
trail, and covered her scent with her own. She was starting to really enjoy
herself. She imagined the protectors trying to track down a simple girl, and
only catching scents of other shifters.